Mido: A damaging reputation that couldn't be recovered

The retirement of Mido at 30-years-old was a bitter pill to swallow for the Egyptian.

It conveyed the story of a career of misfortune, setbacks and ultimately failure. How steep the fall from grace had been from the heights of scoring against Real Madrid in the group stages of the Uefa Champions League to fighting for a starting birth at Npower Championship side Barnsley.

Ahmed Hossam Hussein Abdelhamid was born in the heart of Cairo "the city of a thousand minarets" on February 23rd 1983. After developing an affection throughout his childhood for football,it would be on the 22nd May 2000 that a 17-year-old Mido would make his debut for Egyptian Premier League side Zamalek.

After impressing with the chances given to him it wasn't before long that Belgium club Gent would court the striker and successfully lure him to Europe in the same year of his debut.

The speed in which these changes where happening coupled with his young age, contributed to his initial struggles with homesickness. The perseverance and mental strength saw Mido winning a place in the first team. He would go on to repay the faith showing in him by Patrick Remy by producing eleven goals in the twenty one appearances he made.

The tale in the Flemish City was only to last for one year as the allure and draw of playing for interested party Ajax was an opportunity Mido refused to miss out on.

What turned out to be the most successful period of his career was plentiful in not only goals but his vexatious character seen the stay plagued by bothersome tussles with the manager, opposition and teammates.

This included a bizarre incident in which he was reported to have thrown a pair of scissors in the direction of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the aftermath of a dispute. This forced Ajax to send the enigmatic star out on a short term loan to Spanish side Celta Vigo.

After he returned it was still obvious that the relationship with his parent Amsterdam club was beyond repair and in the process a €12 million bid was accepted from Marseille and Mido finalised the transfer.

This too was a club he couldn't fit in at and he became unsettled and before the seasons end had expressed a desire to leave the french club, this was reported to be related to Ivorian Didier Drogba being the main focus of the team. The presence of the player on the transfer market gave Mido options in regards to his next move.

This turned out to be Seria A side Roma who signed him on the transfer deadline day of the 2004 summer transfer window for a fee reported to be in the region of €6 million. It was yet another troublesome period for the young striker and it would result in a loan move to Tottenham Hotspur six months after signing for the Giallorossi.

The spell in London proved to be a fruitful one evident by the Egyptians goal return of thirteen in thirty six games over the course of his loan deal. This promptly was enough for Spurs to make the signing permanent . In due course he inevitably became a distraction at white heart lane and failed to replicate his earlier for shown whilst on loan.

He would go on to continue his career in the Premier league via Middlesborough and during this he couldn't discover his former form and couldn't be relied on as a main source of the sides goals. This lead to been loaned out an astonishing four times to Wigan, Zamalek, West Ham and Ajax.

It was beginning to affect the strikers confidence and his struggles at club level continued and short stays at Zamalek and Barnsley would provide the end of a career that could have been more lasting and impactful, as it seemed his temperamental personality would prove self destructive and constant collisions with his employers gave Mido a bad reputation that he couldn't recover from.

DISCLAIMER: This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article. GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

Report author of article

DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

Want more content like this?

Like our GiveMeSport - Football Page and you will get this directly to you.